Welcome to LukeMcReynolds.com!
This is my place to put stuff online so I won't forget it, show the world that I can make a decent website, and share my thoughts with family and friends. It's also a place for me to share Linux/web development tips and tricks with the world at large, and a place for me to post pictures of my cat. If you don't know me and would like to, please get in touch with me - I'll try to respond right away.
Scientists Confirm That the Universe Exists Even When We’re Not Directly Observing It
This is actually quite reassuring, somehow. From an article in The Economist:
Now two groups of physicists, working independently, have demonstrated that nature is indeed real when unobserved.
You should read the whole article - it’s very short and relatively non-physics-y. Although I suppose this doesn’t preclude the whole disconcerting “brain in a jar” philosophical hypothesis, I still think it’s good news. Life is a little less scary now that I know that the things I like have a greater chance of still existing when I get back to my house.
Posted on Mar 05, 2009 - 09:44 PM Categories: Christianity, Geek, Personal
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ExpressionEngine Code Snippet: How many weblog entries have been posted in the past 24 hours?
This is a relatively simple question: how can you display how many weblog entries have been posted in the last 24 hours? It turns out there isn’t a pre-made ExpressionEngine way to do this, but if you copy and paste the code below in to your template, you can do it yourself.
Posted on Mar 04, 2009 - 11:15 PM Categories: ExpressionEngineread more | 0 comments
Altered Polaroids
I went to Natalie Good‘s senior art show at Calvin College’s (106) South Division Gallery. Natalie had a lot of art on display, but I particularly liked her series of altered Polaroids. I took photos of two of them: click on the images for larger versions.
And a close-up:
They look like miniature surrealistic landscapes. It’s a good look.
Posted on Feb 24, 2009 - 10:17 PM Categories: Art, Grand Rapids, Local, Photoblogread more | 0 comments
Radical Jesus
Someone at a house party I went to this weekend had a massive Jesus painting in their living room. You can’t really tell from the photo, but it’s very large: probably 9 by 4 feet. Click on the image for a full-size version.
The phrases on the painting itself seem a little bit contradictory, but I appreciate the thought that went in to them.
Posted on Feb 22, 2009 - 05:02 PM Categories: Art, Photoblogread more | 0 comments
CampaignMonitor Sidebox for Zen Cart v1.01 Released
I’ve released version 1.01 of CampaignMonitor Sidebox for Zen Cart. The official forum support thread is available here; you can view the readme here, or download the new version here.
Changes include fixing a curlopt error and additions to the documentation.
Posted on Feb 16, 2009 - 10:29 AM Categories: Geekread more | 0 comments
West Coast Coffee - Best Espresso in Grand Rapids
I’ve been going to West Coast Coffee on Monroe Center by the GRPD headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids for more than a year now. My “coffee philosophy” is such that I usually order drinks that I can’t make at home when I go out for coffee somewhere. Because of that, and especially because of their quality at West Coast Coffee, I usually get lattes. Lauren and I went to West Coast Coffee this Saturday, though, after going to the GRAM. I guess I had been taking the quality of their lattes for granted, because I tried some of Lauren’s mocha, and I was immediately blown away. West Coast Coffee has the best espresso in town, bar none. Really. Any drink you get their will be amazing if it contains espresso.
The owner and principal barista, Doug (I’m pretty sure that’s his name), has been making lattes since the 90s, I guess, and has nationally-certified coffee skills. The atmosphere may not be for you - Doug listens to a lot of classic rock - but the coffee certainly will be. Here’s a map of West Coast Coffee’s location.
Posted on Feb 02, 2009 - 10:27 AM Categories: Grand Rapids, Local, Personalread more | 0 comments
Я/Rolcats - English Translations of Russian Lolcats
Just when I had thought that the whole lolcat thing had been tapped out, the internets come up with something new: Яolcats. An example photo, with English “translation”:
We sleep with vigor, content with the knowledge that Lenin’s body shall never decay…
These rolcats - properly spelled with a Cyrillic “Я” - are one of the most subtle, subversive, and just flat-out absurdly hilarious internet memes I’ve seen yet. Nothing says Communist Party apparatchik like a cute little cat swearing fealty to the Motherland.
Note: according to the Russian-speaking denizens of Reddit, the captions aren’t in any way related to the Cyrillic text embedded in the photos. These are evidently legitimate Russian lolcats, albeit with absurd, awesome captions.
Here’s another Яolcat for your enjoyment, with captioned “translation”.
Posted on Jan 31, 2009 - 01:22 AM Categories: Art, GeekMother, if my constitution is unfit for gymnast… The grist mill shall become my pommel horse and daily labor my reward!
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President Obama Spiderman Comic Desktop Wallpaper
I bought the Barack Obama Spiderman cover issue the other day. I’ve been a Spiderman fan ever since I was little, and I hoped Obama would be President starting in ‘06, so this is pretty special for me.
In honor of the occasion, I’ve made a bunch of desktop wallpapers with Obama and Spidey’s smiling faces on it. Choose the links below to download the one that’ll fit you best.
Widescreen
Non-widescreen
Let me know in the comments if you’d like other resolutions.
Posted on Jan 27, 2009 - 07:51 PM Categories: Art, Geek, Politicalread more | 0 comments
Vegan Chili Cookoff Winners
A whole house of friends of mine won two prizes at the 2009 Vegan Chili Cookoff and Print Sale, part of the 2009 Wake Up Weekend!, hosted by G-RAD / extraVEGANza, the Calvin Students for Compassionate Living, Not One Sparrow and several other Christian/animal-rights groups.
The contest had 25 entries or so, and most of them were pretty good. My friends’ chili, called “KAZAAM”, was composed of in part:
- Ginger (lots of it)
- Coffee
- Maple syrup
- Miller Genuine Draft (about 1 cup - this was my contribution)
- Rice
- Roasted coriander, cumin, and pepper
- Garlic
- Baking cocoa
It was GREAT chili. The whole event was a lot of fun, too; I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but I always appreciate good food and moral choices.
Here’s a photo of the boys looking at their photo, right after they accepted their awards.
EDIT 1/27/09: Met up w/ Brian and co. at Founders last night. Ingredients also include cumin, coriander, home-made wine, and black, white and pinto beans, among other things. Also: after most of the liquids were added (beer, coffee, syrup), it just SAT there for a day, and was then boiled for 20-25 minutes right before the contest.
Posted on Jan 26, 2009 - 09:15 PM Categories: Grand Rapids, Local, Personalread more | 0 comments
Dreamhost Kinda Sucks :-(
I’m changing hosting. More to come later.
Posted on Jan 25, 2009 - 11:02 PM Categories: Geekread more | 0 comments
